The 1960s Music

Almost every Dylan album of the era speaks to some important part of the 1960s, but this one (Dylan’s fifth studio album) is interesting because it represents Dylan in transition. Dylan taps into his pre-folk rock and blues roots in this half-acoustic, half-electric declaration that he intends to be an artist and not just a folk singer.

Recorded in London, this first album by the Seattle legend signaled a new direction in American rock. Raw, powerful, and employing all the tricks made possible by electricity (feedback, distortion), Are You Experienced debuted as the student movement and counterculture was gathering its own more electric intensity.